Early life and career Daniels grew up influencing the game of hockey, not just calling it. He was a
hockey official on the ice from the age of 11 until the end of his college career. He was involved with the
Greater Toronto Hockey League and put himself through college doing up to four games a night. After graduating from
York University in
Toronto, Daniels began his radio career in Oshawa and moved to
CJCL out of Toronto in 1980, covering both the political beat and general news. He dabbled in sports and kicked off his play-by-play career with the
Toronto Maple Leafs in
1988. He would remain with that radio station, which later became Canada's first all-sports radio station, THE FAN, for another nine seasons.
CBC Sports While continuing with his radio job, Daniels appeared on television in 1985, with the
Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, and by
1990, became a reporter/host for
Hockey Night in Canada. In February
1992, Daniels was the main game host, which included appearances with
Don Cherry on "
Coach's Corner", while
Ron MacLean was in
Albertville, France covering the
Winter Olympics. Meanwhile,
Dick Irvin Jr. hosted the Montreal broadcasts. In
1994, Daniels began doing play-by-play for
HNIC, usually for games in Western Canada. While working for CBC, Daniels' diverse sports experience included hosting stints for
CBC Sports Weekend and the
Champ Car/Indy-Car World Series, as well as
Formula One Grand Prix coverage and
Toronto Blue Jays baseball. Daniels' broadcast résumé also includes two Olympic games. He covered both the
1988 Summer Olympics in
Seoul, and
1996 Olympics in
Atlanta, where he could be heard during cycling, baseball, canoeing, kayaking, tennis and judo. Daniels' Olympic experience landed him a role as the "Olympic host" in the
NBC Movie of the Week:
On Thin Ice - The Tai Babilonia Story. He also appeared in a film with
Tony Danza,
The Philadelphia Phenomenon, and was a play-by-play voice for the
CBS/
CTV television program
Due South.
Detroit Red Wings For the
1997–98 NHL season, Daniels was lured away from CBC to take over play-by-play for the
Detroit Red Wings and teamed up with color commentator
Mickey Redmond. On December 12, 2006 Daniels broadcast a game between the
Red Wings and the
Ottawa Senators from ice-level between the benches, while color commentator Redmond remained in the booth. This was the first time a U.S. local station had attempted this type of broadcast. Daniels received a Michigan
EMMY Award for this broadcast at the 29th Annual Michigan EMMY Awards on June 16, 2007 in Detroit. == References ==